Every day, condoms, tampons, food waste, detergent, industrial solvents, paint, pharmaceuticals, oil, abattoir waste, asbestos, heavy metals, dental, and hospital waste, all end up in our sewer systems. In fact, each day billions of liters of water, combined with various forms of wastes, are flushed down toilets around the world.
Crapshoot: The Gamble with Our Wastes, directed by Jeff McKay, is a documentary look at the world of waste and explores if sewer systems are actually contributing to the world’s waste problems. Filmed in Italy, India, Sweden, the United States and Canada, the film combines interviews and a historical waste overview with information on the sewage challenges facing the world.
In India, raw sewage pumps into the most holy of rivers – the Ganges. The Hindus bath in pollutant levels that are more than 340,000 times what is considered safe. In St. John’s, Newfoundland, 120 million litres of raw untreated waste enters the harbor each day. Victoria, British Columbia, releases billions of litres of raw sewage each year into the ocean. It may surprise many people to learn that 80% of Canadian coastal communities dump their untreated raw sewage directly into the ocean.
However, sewage treatment plants are not that much better for the environment. At treatment plants, toxic waste is expected to be made 'clean' through the treatment process. But Crapshoot posits this is extremely unrealistic due to the fact that sewage systems are now superhighways for toxics and hazardous materials.
Most Canadians are unaware that sludge is being applied to their food crops.
The sewage treatment process also creates millions of tons of sludge that nobody knows what to do with. Almost half of the sludge produced by waste treatment facility plants is supplied free of charge and untested to farmlands as a ‘soil enhancer’. Paper and pulp waste, raw septic waste and raw sewage sludge, under the guise of fertilizer, also find their way onto active farmlands. Most Canadians are unaware that the sludge is being applied to their food crops. Both Sweden and Belgium have banned the use of sludge on food crops.
Crapshoot is an informative and occasionally humorous look at the pros and cons of the sewer system. A great film for anyone who wants to know more about one of the world’s most taboo subjects.
Visit: http://www.bullfrogfilms.com/ or http://www.nfb.ca/
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